She believes this strategy is what allowed her to rebound so quickly from treatments and continue her Peloton routine in between. The less talked about toll on cancer patients is the mental one. The abundance of unfiltered information on the internet without having the specifics about the patient’s actual pathology can be dangerous. Combine this with social media groups self-describing as “support networks” yet only seem to host those with the worst of prognoses creates an emotional purgatory. The fear of recurrence is continuous.  

Before and after her cancer free designation Lauren continually asked for brain scans just to be sure. Her doctors assured her that given her response to treatments a brain scan was not warranted and there was no need to expose her to the radiation of imaging scans.

On Nov 1st, 2021 Lauren received her Covid 19 booster shot. The following day she began to have a headache. Her headache continued for weeks. Lauren’s primary care physician assumed it was a side effect of the booster but prescribed a brain MRI due to Lauren’s history of breast cancer. The earliest MRI appointment was over a week away but the pain was too strong and persistent.  On Nov 21st Lauren finally visited the emergency room. Little did she know this is the last time she would be home until Feb 2nd.

There was a mass in her brain which required two surgeries from two different angles in an attempt to remove it.  After both of the resection surgeries it was discovered that cancer cells were now also in the cranial spinal fluid (leptomeningeal carcinomatosis).  Her radiation therapy strategy changed from targeting the tumor to treating the whole brain. 

After three additional surgeries to relieve pressure in the brain and treat an infection, which left her without a section of her skull, Lauren was finally released to Home Care to continue her treatments. Due to the surgeries, or pressure, or cancer, or all of the above Lauren lost most of the ability to move the left side of her body.  She needed intensive physical and occupational therapy to resume her life.

The transition to Home Care was tough. No matter who came to the home they gave Lauren’s family a different explanation of what care she would receive. They were never prepared or had looked at Lauren’s case prior to arriving. Their services were too infrequent to provide the care Lauren needed.   On top of all the Home Care issues Lauren’s condition was declining again.

After yet another brain scan, which had become weekly at the hospital, the doctors discovered new swelling on Lauren’s brain. 

Due to the radiation treatment the wounds from her craniotomies would not seal. Lauren would require intensive muscle and skin grafts to repair her wounds to prevent cranial spinal fluid from leaking out.  On Feb 25th 2022 Lauren was rushed back to the hospital for these surgeries which wound up taking almost 30 hours.

 Lauren’s condition continued to decline from this point. It took weeks and was declining from more than just the surgeries. The infection was persistent this whole time. The pressure on her brain and damage to her central system was still in question. But the most significant factor was, the cancer was back. On May 2nd 2022 imaging showed cancer throughout her brain.  There was no reasonable or humane path forward to continue treating Lauren.

We are heartbroken by the death of our foundation’s inspiration, Lauren Handler who passed away on Thursday, May 19 2022 at the age of 38. It would be wrong to say that Lauren lost her battle with cancer because she never stopped fighting. No matter how sick she was, she was always fiercely determined. When anyone else would have broken, Lauren stayed strong. Through her, we know what resilience and perseverance truly look like. There are no words that can properly express how tragic and unfair this is.  Such a bright, beautiful woman should not have been taken from this world at such a young age. We will continue our mission in her memory to help others fight as ferociously as she did.